ISO 45001 Occupational Health & Safety Standard Guide
Download the Smithers ISO 45001 Occupational Health & Safety Standard Guide to improve your knowledge base around ISO 45001, its structure, key elements, and its most important clauses.
The Top 5 Non-Conformities of ISO 45001 Certification Audits
Achieving compliance with the ISO 45001 standard can be a challenge, especially when you’re trying to ensure that your organization maximizes its Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS). To help you get an edge in the process, we discuss the top five non-conformities associated with ISO 45001 certification audits. Knowing what these are will help you assist your organization in staying in compliance with all the ISO 45001 standard’s requirements.
1. Lack of Documentation – One of the most common non-conformities for organizations implementing an OHSMS based on ISO 45001 is a lack of documentation. This means that there is inadequate documentation to demonstrate that processes have been implemented and monitored in order to meet the requirements set out in the standard. It’s vital to effectively document all processes from planning through implementation and up to monitoring so that they can be clearly traced back to their origin.
2. Poor Risk Management – Risk management is an important part of any organization's safety plan, but it can often be overlooked or not given enough attention. Organizations should ensure that they have effective risk management procedures in place so that potential risks are identified and addressed quickly and efficiently.
3. Lack of Training – Another common non-conformance is a lack of training on occupational health and safety topics related to ISO 45001. Organizations should ensure that employees receive adequate training on topics such as hazard identification and control, hazard communication, ergonomics, and other safety procedures outlined in the standard.
4. Poor Compliance Monitoring – Compliance monitoring is essential for ensuring alignment with standards such as ISO 45001; however, it can sometimes be difficult for organizations to stay on top of this task due to inadequate resources or personnel shortage issues. Organizations should make sure they have sufficient resources dedicated towards compliance monitoring so that any non-compliances can be identified and rectified quickly and efficiently before it becomes a bigger problem down the line.
5. Inadequate Internal Audits – Internal audits are an important part of any quality program; however, many organizations fail to properly conduct internal audits or do not have effective procedures in place for them. It’s important that organizations regularly audit their own programs in order to ensure they are meeting all applicable requirements set out by standards like ISO 45001 before submitting themselves for external certification bodies' audits later down the line.
These non-conformities represent some of the most common issues found when assessing compliance against ISO 45001 standards; however, they may not be indicative of every situation out there since each organization’s needs will vary depending on its size, industry sector and existing processes/procedures already implemented within its system(s).
If you want your organization to achieve full compliance with ISO 45001 standards, then having an understanding about these common non-conformities will certainly give you an edge. Knowing what these areas are makes it easier for managers and staff alike to focus their efforts where needed most; thus, helping them avoid costly mistakes along their journey towards achieving certification.
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